Time to Move

     We have looked at the importance of consuming the right foods in right portions. However, there is something else that is just as important and it must work together with correct eating. We have to get up and do something. We must add exercise to our day. When a group of people who had all lost 60 pounds and had kept it off for six years were asked how they kept it off, it was determined that you only have a 10% chance of keeping your weight off without exercise. Also, among health experts there has been a debate going on between being fit and being at the correct weight. They have gone back and forth as to which one is most important. They are both important but right now it is looking like being fit is inching its way to the forefront. If you absolutely had to choose between the two, it is better to be fit and a few pounds overweight than at the correct weight and not be fit. In the end, it is better to consider them twins; they go together and give the ultimate results when they are both practiced. A few things to remember is that you need to work out doing cardio and weight bearing exercises. You need to do 30 minutes, five times a week at a minimum. Ultimate health is achieved through 1 hour of medium intensity workouts every day. Find the exercise that you love. Change up your exercise to keep from getting bored. Lastly, always challenge yourself to do more than you think you can!
     Just as it takes healthy eating and exercise to achieve ultimate health, it takes faith and works to achieve ultimate spiritual health. To do only one is not God's intent and cheats you out of the God's best blessings. We must exercise our faith as well as work for the Lord. Everyone needs to do something. No one gets to be a couch potato.
Are you doing both in your life? What work are you doing for the Lord? Seek to find your calling, the service that you love! Exercising your faith is not easy, it will be a challenge, but that is how you grow! Don’t be content with your spiritual fitness level, increase it another step. Don’t ever let yourself be content with what you consume, like going to church, you have to go to work too!!!

Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department; I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works, works and faith fit together hand in glove.

James 2 17-18

New Year Resolution?

     Happy New Year! January is the time of year when everyone talks about resolutions. I think it is because the beginning of a new year makes us think about new beginnings in our lives. Most people’s resolutions have something to do with quitting smoking, exercise, or losing weight. You will see the TV programs bombarded with commercials for eating programs, gym membership, diet pills, and smoking aides. People also make resolutions to be better with finances, work on careers, get more education, have a better attitude, volunteer, etc. The problem with resolutions is that only 12% actually achieve them. I think there are several reasons for this.
     One, resolutions have to come from the heart, or God’s conviction. Two, you have to be committed to the process, not a quick fix. And three, it can’t be to please people or the world. It has to be a decision you make in order to be all God created you to be.
When I was teaching a group of women in Montana, God gave me a new twist on New Year resolutions and of course, I passed it on! That is why I am going to challenge you not to make a typical, worldly, New Year resolution. However, I am going to challenge you to make a spiritual resolution with God.
     Here is how you do it. You pray until God reveals to you the area He wants you to focus on for the next year. Maybe He already has and you know what it is. Let me point out a few things about this assignment. Your resolution comes from God, not you, not others, and not the world. This is something you will work with God on for the next year. Not a week, not a month, but a whole year! The goal is to let God continue His molding process on you. To grow you into what He needs you to be. After you get your spiritual goal for the year, find a scripture that speaks to you in regards to your goal. Now this doesn’t mean that this will be the only lesson God teaches you this year or that this will be the only thing you will work on. You will be surprised how many different goals come from your main resolution. For example, for many years now God told me to focus on my self-discipline. For me, it has been a goal He continued to give me; year after year. Maybe it is because it took me so many years to make any progress.
Now, I just have one more step for you. The research which showed that only 12% succeed at their resolutions also showed that women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends. So, make it public.  You can share it with a friends and then you can support each other and pray for each other or you could list it on the comment section.  We are to encourage each other so don't try and do it alone!  What is your spiritual resolution for 2011?

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions,

give it all you’ve got,

be resolute, and love without stopping.

1 Corinthians 16: 13

What Goes In?

     Weight loss is a matter of calories consumed versus calories burned. It is referred to as ‘calories in/ calories out’. We each have a certain amount of calories our body burns each day that is determined by our age, gender, normal daily activity, and weight. There are many sites on the internet that will calculate it for you. A great website is http://www.mypyramid.gov/ . On this site, you can figure your daily needs in calories and nutrients. Once you know the calories you need each day, you need to cut your calories to lose weight, eat the proper amount to stay the same, or if you eat too many calories you will gain weight. A pound is equal to 3500 calories. If you eat 500 calories less than you need each day, you would lose a pound a week. Also, you can add additional calories to your daily burn by exercising. Again, if you wanted to to cut your calories by 500, you could eat 200 less calories each day and exercise to burn off 300 calories and still achieve your goal.
    When we were young, many of us heard, "what goes in must come out!" We know the principle! We see its physical evidence when it comes to our bodies, but it also applies to our spiritual being. What we put in our minds and our spirit is evident in our life. It affects our disposition, our bitterness, our forgiveness, our sins, our words, and what we radiate. Scripture tells us to stand on God’s Word through every situation we encounter. However, how can we do that if we do not know the Word of God. We can only know it by reading it. We put it in our heart by learning its applications. It does not happen by osmosis. If you want to reflect Christ to the world, you have to put His Word in you. You have to know Him!
     Think about your past week. What did you put in your mind? What did your eyes see? What did your ears hear? How much time did you give God? How much did you give the world? Did your life reflect Christ? Or was the mirror foggy?

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Psalms 199: 15-16

Replace the Bad with Good!

     When it comes to changing my eating habits, I became the 'Queen of Substitutes'! It is what made the transition from sweets and high fat foods bearable. It also allowed this new way of eating a more acceptable long term habit and not just a quick and easy four week diet. If you do not find healthy choices that you love, you will revert back to those things which aren’t so good for you. Ice cream was one of my favorite foods. Actually, I love it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack! If I had not found substitutes for my desire for the sweet, creamy, cold sensation, its temptation would have been the dagger to my weight loss. I have found that the ‘Guilt Free’ ice cream is great and very low in calories and fat. I freeze my yogurts and eat them as ice cream. Also, I make smoothies with frozen fruit, skim milk, and juice. It is very thick and I eat it with a spoon and call it sorbet. If we are out in a town with a ‘Cold Stone’, a cup of sinless ice cream with berries is my special treat and is less than 200 calories. I have found new food choices for every tempting edible favorite. I still eat all the foods I have always loved but they are prepared differently, with healthier ingredients, or substitutes. They have been 'skinnied up'.
     Beth Moore tells a story in one of her lessons that illustrates the need to replace the bad with the good. There was a woman who had a hideous green chair. It was worn and ugly. She hated it! Every time she walked by it, she just got more and more frustrated. One day, she had enough. She dragged the chair out to the trash for the trash man to pick up. For days she would walk by the spot where the green chair once was and notice the big empty space. She didn’t have the money at that point to buy a new chair. The space seemed so vast. It didn’t seem right. After a few days, she went out to the trash heap and dragged the chair back into the house to its place of honor. She hated the empty space more than she hated the chair.
    There are many things we hate in our life; our sin, our habits, our activities, etc. We want them done away with. Sometimes, we make a commitment to rid them out of our life. However, if we do not put good things in their place, we will soon drag them back into to their original position. Let’s say you decide to give up an activity you do every Friday night. You have determined it is not glorifying to God and causes you to sin. Your spirit hates it. You need to find a positive activity to do every Friday night in its place. If you don’t and you sit at home bored every Friday night, you will one day hate your boredom so much you will go back to doing the activity you didn't want anymore.
     Do you have a green chair in your life? Something you hate? Are you ready to drag it to the trash? What are you going to put in its place? If you end up hating the empty space more than the chair, the ugly green chair will be back in your life before you know it!

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word,
making a salvation-garden of your life.

James 1:21

It Is Hard Work!

     I have said before how much I love watching the Biggest Loser. I have learned a lot from watching it! It pushes me when I need it and it encourages me to do more and not to quit. Last night’s show didn’t do any direct teaching but it gave me a visible picture I will never forget. Every week there is a challenge where teams compete. This week each team had a cage that was attached to ropes connected to a massive crane. Their mission was to pull on the ropes to lift themselves 120 feet to the top of the crane. The first team to get there would win phone calls home. Every team wanted those phone calls really bad. Before they began they each spoke of how much they wanted it and how they were going to work hard to win. Within a few pulls, they were beginning to talk about how hard it was to move their cages. Within minutes several teams stopped trying because they didn’t think they could do it. It was too hard. Usually every team finishes the challenge just because they do not want to quit. This week only two finished.
The journey to good health and weight loss is hard. It is one of the hardest things I have done. You have to understand that from the beginning so you do not quit when it gets hard. One day when I was so disappointed about the results of my hard work, I cried to God about why it had been so hard for me when the weight seemed to fall off for my friends. I believe God revealed to my heart that if it was easy for me, I would go right back to my old ways as soon as I met my goals. Then I would just easily take it all off again. When it is hard, I will work much harder to keep myself from gaining it all back. He was right. Though I am still not where I want to be, I work hard at not going back to old ways, because I know how hard it is to take off.
     There are many things that are hard about the Christian walk. Do not expect it to be a breeze in the park. Though it gives us blessings, joy, and peace it is not easy learning to control our flesh. It is especially difficult to not be controlled by the flesh when it comes to getting along with people. When we have to eat our words, or apologize, or admit mistakes, or forgive someone, or let go of hurt, or ignore attacks, or choose to not argue and defend our viewpoint, IT IS HARD!!! However, the results are amazing. We experience the control of the spirit which fills us with love, joy, goodness, kindness, peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I think that is a great trade off.
     Are you ready for some hard work? Or do you want the easy way? Are you going to give into the flesh? Or are you going to give into the Spirit? You will reap the result of your choice!

    

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

James 3:18

It is All About Balance!

     One of the most important principles of eating healthy is to make sure to eat a variety of foods. Keeping the right balance is essential to health and weight loss. We need to eat a minimum of five fruits and vegetables each day. We need two low-fat dairies each day. Also, we need protein, whole grains, and healthy fats. The better we balance these fuels the better our bodies run. I heard great advice once, if you make sure to eat what you need every day you will be full and satisfied and not want all the junk food.
     Isn’t life like that as well? We have so many roles to balance every day. We have to find time for our spouse, our children, work, God, friends, play, commitments, school, and ourself. We must constantly find the right balance. First and foremost we have to fuel our soul with time with God. We then need to love and support our spouse and see the needs of our children. If we work outside the home we have to fulfill our responsibilities to our employer. Then find time to care for our self. Any time left can be filled with the other areas. When we live with things in the right balance, we will feel we are in control of our life, we will have peace, and have time to enjoy life. When we do not keep a good balance, life gets totally out of control and those breaking point fits are destined to happen.
     How is your balance? Is it time to do some readjusting? It is something we need do monitor regularly and make the proper adjustments. The benefit of living a balanced life is well worth the effort.

Be well balanced, be vigilant and cautious at all times; for the enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
1 Peter 5:8

Step by Step

     It is never easy changing habits and as much as we wish it so, it never happens overnight. Changing eating habits is one of the hardest things you can do because food is always in front of us. It isn’t the healthy food that bombards us; it is the sweet candy, gooey rolls, and burgers and fries that we can’t get away from. The higher the calories the more it screams our name. We are hit with it in stores, at the office, on commercials, and billboards. Food is the one addiction we must overcome and not give up. We have to eat food; we just have to learn to control it, instead of it controlling us. We have the power to overcome any temptation. It takes consistent effort to not give up. The longer we go, the easier it gets. When eating healthy becomes our habit, we don’t have to think about it as much. You will always have to reevaluate your eating and make adjustments. It is a step by step process. There will be time when we splurge and eat things we normally would not. One meal, or one day is not going to destroy our health. It is what we do after the splurge that determines our path. So many times we say, “Well, I blew it! So, I might as well eat what I want for the rest of the day (or week). I will start again on Monday!” We need to get right back on track when we step off. It is what we do 90% of the time that determines our success.
     I remember when I first became a Christian. I was so frustrated that I still had to battle this flesh. I wanted to wake up one day and be all God wanted me to be. However, it doesn’t work like that. It is a hard process because we have to battle our flesh, our desires every day. Sin bombards us everywhere we go. It is impossible to get away from it because wherever I go, sin is there! We are tempted constantly. Yet, we do have the power to overcome because we have the Spirit of the Lord with us every day. We just have to use it and depend on it. The more we starve our flesh, the less it fights us. We must keep our eyes on Him and persevere. Over time we can become the follower of Christ that brings glory to Him. It is a growing process. We will all sin, but we can’t let that give us permission to surrender. We need to ask forgiveness, learn from our mistake, and keep on letting God mold us. We will never reach a point where we arrive as a Christian. However, we can still mature and grow and become a person that honors and glorifies God.
    So many times, we pray and ask God to remove our temptations, He does not. We have to grow through them. We have to want God more than we want our sin. What do you want the most?

Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set.
Psalm 119:5

What Do I Turn To?

     There is no way to avoid stress, heartache, and hurt in this life. We have to live in this world where sin is rampant. Also, the way we cram our calendars with activities only magnifies our stress. What do we do when we are overwhelmed with emotions of any type? I find myself turning to a great friend for sympathy, or my husband for a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes I let ‘Calgon take me away!’ A few times, I have tried letting a new outfit heal my spirits. If I want to stop thinking and mentally escape to another place and time, I watch TV. I also have two little adorable dogs that love to cuddle and if I need a little unconditional love, I turn to them. However, there is something magical about turning to some good ole comfort food! Almost all of us have our favorites. If I am sick, I must have mash potatoes and cream corn. If I feel wiped out, ice cream can restore my senses. And when the stress level is high, anything chocolate will do.
     It is now my job and my heart passion to teach, coach, and encourage people to achieve and maintain good health. Many times to achieve good health, we have to deal with weight issues. Other times, it is achieving healthy eating. Either way, we must deal with our love and desire for food. I remember when I started my weight loss journey, I struggled to accept the fact that eating healthy had to be a lifestyle. I did not want to give up all of my favorite food for life! I would do it for a short time to achieve my weight goal, but for life was out of the question. Food was too important to me to give up. I now know that I am not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to people from 120 to 400+ pounds who struggle with giving up food. For me, it has been a process. I first gave up certain foods temporarily, and then I realized how much better I was feeling and looking. My taste for the bad food had changed and the pull it had on me was not as strong. Now I eat for health and I trust the healthy weight will follow. Recently, I have taken a step I would have sworn I would have never taken. I now eat organic foods as much as possible. I don’t want all the pesticides, chemicals, and processing in my body. I have learned they mess up hormones, which messes up weight loss. At 49, my hormones are crazy enough. Anything I can do to quiet them down is worth it to me.
     At this point, I realize there will be times when I eat chocolate or ‘low fat’ ice cream. However, I make sure I eat the correct serving size and my diet is not consumed with high sugar, high fat foods. The real issue with food is the addiction we have to it. When we live to eat, instead of eat to live, we are out of balance. Part of the definition of gluttony was ‘a misplaced desire of food’. When we hold on to a certain food because we need it, maybe it is a misplaced desire, or in harsher terms, a form of gluttony. Once my doctor told me to give up carbohydrates and dairy products for a month. I refused. After all, I had already given up my unhealthy processed carbs and dairy. The only ones I ate now were healthy and now she was asking me to give them up for a month! Eventually, I gave in. It taught me that I can live without them. Their power over me diminished. They were no longer a ‘misplaced desire’. What about you? If you were asked to give up sugar for a week, how would you feel? Or maybe carbs? Or maybe dairy?
     Besides the issue of gluttony, there is another area I struggle with spiritually. As a follower of Jesus Christ, should I not turn to Him when I am overwhelmed in life? Shouldn’t He be the One that comforts me, restores me, and heals me? If He is the most important priority in my life, why do I turn to other people, or things, or food to deal with my emotions? That is the role I have committed to Jesus. I should put nothing in front of Him. In the end, He is the only One that can satisfy. I heard a statement many years ago that I have tried to apply to all aspects of my life. “If Christ isn’t Lord of all, He is not Lord at all!” That includes my eating!

You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!
1 Corinthians 6:13 (The Message)

Eating Responsibly

     Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is we are done talking about water. The bad news is we are moving on to food! We have an epidemic in this country; it is called obesity. Today, about one in three American adults is considered to be obese. Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat. Body fat is determined by your BMI, Body Mass Index. The formula uses your height and weight. Here is a link to determine your BMI: http://www.bing.com/bmi/search?domain=bmi&q=BMI+calculator&FORM=DTPNUA
BMI Weight status
Below 18.5=Underweight
18.5 — 24.9=Normal
25.0 — 29.9=Overweight
30.0 and higher=Obese

Symptoms associated with obesity can include:

· Difficulty sleeping
· Snoring
· Sleep apnea
· Pain in your back or joints
· Excessive sweating
· Always feeling hot
· Rashes or infection in folds of your skin
· Feeling out of breath with minor exertion
· Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
· Depression

     If you're obese, you're more likely to develop a number of potentially serious health problems, including:

· Blood (fat) lipid abnormalities
· Cancer, including cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, breast, colon, rectum and prostate
· Depression
· Gallbladder disease
· Gynecological problems, such as infertility and irregular periods
· Heart disease
· High blood pressure
· Metabolic syndrome
· Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
· Osteoarthritis
· Skin problems, such as intertrigo and impaired wound healing
· Stroke
· Type 2 diabetes

     I know that it is shocking to find out you are classified in the obese category. When I started doing something about my health, I found out that I was obese. I felt an array of feelings; shock, shame, anger, regret, hopelessness and embarrassment. I had ignored the facts and refused to look at myself. Every time I stood in front of a mirror, I would stand head on into it, stand as straight as I could, and suck it all in. This view was my best view and if I just took a quick glance, it wasn’t so bad. My new facts brought me out of my fantasy world and dropped me dead center into reality. It was here my process began. I had to realize that I didn’t get obese by accident. I was not controlling my eating. I was eating what I wanted and when I wanted. I was eating more than my body needed.

    For me, I had to take a good look at it from a spiritual perspective as well. I had one basic question! I had been in many Bible studies, I had attended numerous women’s retreats, I had sat through thousands of sermons, so why had I never heard any lesson on how God expects me to take care of my body? I had heard of the sin of gluttony, but why had I never heard any teaching on it? Maybe it has become so much a part of everyone’s life, nobody wants to talk about it. This is one reason why I feel convicted to teach about health and wellness to Christians. Since most of us are conditioned by our culture to think about our weight loss in January, this is why I am covering this subject this month.
   I did study the definition of Gluttony. “Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste. In some Christian denominations, it is considered one of the seven deadly sins—a misplaced desire of food or its withholding from the needy.” (Wikipedia) This definition only creates more questions. When does eating become over-indulgent? When is it considered over-consumption? When is it waste? For me, I believe it is when we eat more than our body needs, when we eat to the point of being miserable, and when we eat so much we hurt the health that God gives us. If I stand on what I believe, then I must confess that I still am working on this sin in my life. Many days, I still find myself eating more calories than my body needs. But I am committed to get all forms of gluttony out of my life no matter how long the journey takes me.
     Where do you live in regards to your health? Are you living in a state of denial or are you facing reality? We are not assured of tomorrow, so what better time to start a journey of health than today?

“And put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony”

Proverbs 23:2

Are You Thirsty?

     I wish I always did what I knew I was supposed to do. My life would be much better if I did! It can be very frustrating. I am in good company though. Paul also experienced this frustration when he said, “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do and I don’t do the things I want to do?” We have studied for days why it is important to drink water. We have the information. Does that mean we will all start drinking our water, eliminate drinking pop, and drink tea, coffee, juice, and milk in moderation? I wish it was that easy. It will take more than hearing why we need water; we will have to develop a thirst for it. I think we develop a thirst two ways. One way is to bring up the heat. When we are hot and sweating we want something cold to drink. If it is summer, it is easy to get hot and want to drink some ice water. However, in the middle of winter it is more challenging. Working out and sweating is a great way to bring up the heat. We will want water if we are hot and sweating! The other way we will develop a thirst for water is to drink water. I understand that is an unusual principle but it is true. When I did not drink water, I never craved it. When I started drinking water, I started to thirst for it. Before long it is the only thing that satisfied.
     Again, the same principles apply spiritually. We may want to consume Living Water on a constant basis but before we know it, we are drinking in everything else but Living Water. We have to develop a thirst for it. That thirst is developed when the heat rises from the hard times in life. It is when life takes us through a desert. When I was in Peru, standing in the middle of a desert on a sand dune, I remember looking out over the horizon and thinking about walking across it. How hard it would be to walk in that hot sand, each step sinking deep, and the sun beaming down on you. It would be impossible to do without water. If you found yourself in that situation, you wouldn’t have a problem experiencing thirst. I don’t think it would be a mild thirst, I think it would be intense, to the point of being painful. Jesus is waiting to consume you with refreshment. He is our oasis in the middle of our desert. He gives us the only thing that can help us recover from the severe heat. The other way we develop a thirst for Living Water is to spend time with Jesus. The more we are with Him, the more we study about Him, the more we obey Him, the more we develop a thirst for Him. Before we know it, we will realize that nothing else satisfies. The thirst continues to grow and the thirst can be so strong it is painful.
     Do you have a painful need to be refreshed? Refreshed can be defined as “recovering from the effects of the heat”. Do you need to be relieved from the effects of the heat in your life? Only when we develop a painfully, conscious thirst will we drink in the Living Water and reflect Jesus. We cannot reflect anyone that is not a part of us. Will you commit today to develop your thirst for Jesus and drink Him in daily? Only Jesus can keep us spiritually hydrated.

Let everyone who is thirsty (who is painfully conscious of his need for those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened) let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of life.
Rev. 22:17

Time to Grow UP

We are going to discuss one more drink which we consume instead of water. This drink is a necessary part of our diet. “It’s what's good for you." MILK! We have been drinking it since the day we were born. It has calcium (which is fundamental to our bones), proteins, and vitamins. It helps prevent atherosclerosis. I love my milk in any form other than a liquid in a glass, regardless of how cold it is. On the other hand, I like cheese, butter, creme, and yogurt. My favorite way to have my milk is creamy and frozen! Research shows we each need two low-fat servings of dairy per day. However, whole milk is high in saturated fats and cholesterol, this can increase our cholesterol levels and in turn, increases the risk for coronary heart disease. Also, the high fat content can show up on the scales! Milk is definitely something we need, it gives us vitamins and nutrients to help us maintain good health, but it cannot replace water!

Today, I do not have to come up with the analogy of milk and our spiritual health. God already did that for me in Hebrews 5:12-14! In these verses, the basic teachings of God’s righteousness is called milk. Though it is important to drink milk when we are infants, we are to learn God’s Word , to teach it to others, stand on it, practice it, and grow up and eat solid food. We shouldn’t have to be taught the same principles of God’s righteousness over and over. The older I get and the longer I counsel and teach people, the more I believe the majority of Christians never get off of milk. I know Christians who continue to hear and study the basic principles of our faith over and over. Years go by and they are still struggling with the same issues. They have never taught or shared God’s Word with anyone. They are not confident in their own knowledge because they have not studied God's Word for themselves, they just hear it from the pulpit every week. When trials and tests come, they do not stand on their faith and their beliefs. They doubt and question. Then the same learning process starts all over again.

One thing that can test the patience of a mature adult is dealing with an immature person. This person may be an adult by age but they act like a child. They complain, cry, and want things their own way. They want to play and not work. They only laugh and joke and are never serious. As we grow into adulthood we expect others to act like the adults they are. God expects the same from his children. We start out as babies and we get nourishment from the milk, the Word of God. As we grow though, God expects us to change and mature. We are to practice our faith and let it grow us to mature adult children of God. As adults we consume the Living Water to mature us and teach us; to give us spiritual health.
How long have you been a Christian? Are you a baby or an adult? Are you still consuming milk? Is it time to drink more Living Water?

For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought and action), for he is a mere infant (not able to talk yet)! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental facilities are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.

Hebrews 5:12-14

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement for the devotions. Today is the 100th devotion. Who else but God knew I had so much to say! No comment from you Dwayne! lol

Are Your Relationships Pure?

Another drink we need to consume in moderation is juice. Juice is great for us when it is in pure form. It is sweet, refreshing, and gives us many nutrients and antioxidants. Juicing has become very popular. We juice all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We can buy a variety of mixed juices on the shelf in any grocery store. Pure 100% juice is premium fuel for the body. However, as with many things that are good, juices have been corrupted. A large majority of the juices we purchase have tons of sugar and additives added to them. Many times the ‘juice’ has no real juice in it. It is just glorified pop. So, though juice is good for us in its pure form, imitations are not beneficial to us and can actually be deterrents to our health. When we drink juice out of moderation we again do not drink water. Juice should only be consumed in addition to water and never in place of it.
Today’s analogy for our spiritual juice is relationships. Relationships are great blessings that God gives us. In scripture we see many relationships that God honors and blesses: marriages, friends, parents, and families. He tells us to love one another and to care for each other to the point of carrying each others burdens. When we have healthy and pure relationships guided by God they are beneficial to our spiritual health. They can be sweet and refreshing. They give us nutrition for our spirit. However, we can run into problems in two ways. First, our relationship can be corrupted by the world. It is very hard today to find and maintain pure relationships. We have distorted relationships from the way God designed and created them. Relationships today are needy, non-sacrificial, self centered and self seeking. They operate on conditional love and nobody can live up to its conditions for the long run. Today we see same sex marriages, people living together, divorces everywhere, children not speaking to parents and parents abusing children, friendships that do not last, and marriages full of anger. It appears that people are out to destroy each other. Two, our relationships can take such precedence that we do not have time or the desire for Jesus. When relationships stay pure they are Christ centered. When they are Christ centered they are sacrificial, self-sacrificing, and giving. They give unconditional love. They stay true to the way God created them to be.
Relationships add such value and joy to our lives. However, they should never take the place of worshiping and serving Jesus. They are to be in addition to the priority relationship we're to have with Jesus in our lives. When they are not pure relationships, they are deterrents to our spiritual health. Never let the relationships in your life rob you of consuming Living Water. No relationship is worth giving up your relationship with Christ, or the blessing of enjoying a pure, sweet, Christ centered relationship. What kind of relationships do you have? Do you have relationships that you should not have? Are your relationships in the proper priority? Are you who you need to be for those you have a relationship with? Is God your number one relationship? Consume the Living Water and enjoy the benefits to your spiritual health. It is the only way to avoid spiritual dehydration.

“For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13

What Do You Get Your Energy?

We have been talking about water and how necessary it is to our health and quality of life. We are looking at the things that we drink in the place of our life giving water. We covered pop and how it gives no benefit to the body. The other drinks we will cover, do offer us some benefits but when we consume too much it starts to have a negative effect. Also, the main issue is that it keeps us from drinking what our body really needs which is water!
How many times have you or someone you know said, “I just can’t get going until I have had my coffee!” Actually, Shonda Pierce calls coffee the ‘Christian's Drug of Choice’. We feel we must have our caffeine and coffee is a great source of it. There are 80-130 mg. of caffeine in just one cup of coffee. Those that don’t like coffee get their caffeine in tea or new to our culture, energy drinks. Our coffee and tea stimulates us, awakens us, and gives us a needed boost. Today we have choices like never before. We can get our coffee in thousands of flavors, plain, with half n half, with froth, with flavors, hot, cold, or frozen. We now have fancy names for our coffee e.g., we have cappuccinos, espresso's, latte’s, mochas. Even tea has been expanded. We have different flavors, iced, hot, with spices and fruit. We have black tea, green tea, white tea, and regular tea. We have it bottled in many choices. A few years ago the first energy drink came out which was Red Bull. Now we have a wide variety of choices and many of these drinks are not only exploding with caffeine but they have extremely large doses of sugar.
Today there is much debate among health experts as to the value of our coffee or caffeine. It has been labeled the culprit of many health problems for years but now the research is showing some great benefits to drinking coffee. However, all experts say it has to be in moderation. The more we drink, the more it messes up our hormones which helps create weight issues. It affects our sleep and even plays a part in depression. Caffeine does give us the boost we feel we need to function but we must remember it is only temporary. It makes our body cycle go up and down. Probably the worst thing about caffeine is that it actually adds to dehydration. We must drink more water to compensate for each cup of caffeine we drink.
With the stresses of life and the schedules we keep, we need to take some time for us. Time to rejuvenate us! These are the things that keep us going. We all have our hobbies or interests; sports for all ages, shopping, collecting, reading, scrapbooking, hiking, running, etc. These things are good for us and I am in no way saying we shouldn’t have these in our life. However, we must consume them in moderation. When our interests keep us from the Living Water, when it makes us too busy to spend time with God, then it is not in moderation. When we focus more on our hobbies than we do on God, we are out of balance. I have seen so many people give up church and fellowship with their Christian family for their hobbies and sports. When they do that, they find themselves needing to consume more Living Water. Jesus Christ can rejuvenate us. When He does, it satisfies. It gives us nothing but benefits. Commit today to never consume more hobbies and interest than Living Water.

“For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13

Are You Drinking in the World?

Teaching people about health and wellness has been a part of my job for four years now. I talk to people about the importance of drinking water. It is always interesting to me to watch people’s reactions. I remember my own! I hated water. I would go months drinking everything else but never letting my lips touch water. I was dehydrated and was on an uphill climb of obesity. I have learned the biggest reason people do not want to drink water is that they drink too much pop, aka soda. Pop is changing our taste buds and what we consider “sweet”. Our pop consumption increases every year. Research shows we drink an average of 50 gallons of pop per person, per year. We have tripled the size of a normal pop bottle since the first coke glass bottle came of the scene in the 1950’s. Today, the average young teenager consumes 23-26 teaspoons of sugar per day directly from pop. Also, pop is now our biggest source of calories which is adding to our growing obesity epidemic. Those that drink pop regularly have a 31% greater risk of becoming overweight. The studies show that it does not make a difference whether it is regular soda or diet soda. Considering the calories we consume drinking what some call ‘liquid candy’, it is horrible that there is no nutritional value to it. We call it empty calories. Drinking pop does not satisfy our real thirst, it actually leaves us more thirsty, but it does take away our desire for water. Even diet soda makes us fatter because the artificial sweeteners induce a response of “hunger” from the brain, leading to over eating. As if this is not bad enough, pop takes away our smile because it ruins our teeth. Pop is ruining our health and yet we continue to spend $68.1 billion on this carbonated drink a year.
It seems so incredible that we consume something that leaves us empty and thirsty; something that robs us of our health. We accept feeling miserable for a drink that is worthless. Yet, the pure water that can give us health and healing, we resist! Basically there are two things wrong with drinking pop. One, it keeps us from drinking pure water and two, it offers us nothing to sustain life; it is of no value to us.
Again, the situation is the same from a spiritual perspective. We become spiritually dehydrated when we do not drink in the Living Water because we drink in too much of the world, our spiritual pop. It is something that steals our spiritual health. It leaves us empty. It robs us of our happiness, our smile for life. The world never satisfies us, it leaves us more thirsty. It is nothing but empty calories and we can find no sustenance in it. In the end it makes us fat and lazy Christians. We can get so busy doing the things of the world that we do not find time for God. Worse, we don’t even have a desire to spend time with Him because the world changes our desires.
When we forsake the Living Water for things that are worthless, scripture calls it ‘evil’. That is a hard word to swallow. However, we must not forsake God for the things of this world. It is easy to let the world consume us to the point of abandoning God. We spend time growing our careers, watching TV, reading, cleaning, shopping, eating out, etc. We do pretty much what we want and then say we do not have time for God. I have admitted to you that this has been a problem in my life. My time with God has been squeezed out for the things I wanted to do.
When was the last time you gave up something you wanted to do in order to spend time with God? In the end, what gives you nourishment, health, and healing? Doesn’t the world leave you empty and still thirsty? Quench your thirst with Living Water which is the only thing that can satisfy!

“For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13

Side Effects of Dehydration

     When we allow ourselves to become physically and spiritually dehydrated we have consequences that we have to live with.
Symptoms of physical dehydration:
· Increase in anxiety, stress, impatience
· Hindered mental ability and performance.
· Going long periods without urinating
· Inability to cry tears
· Wrinkled skin
· Fatigue and drowsiness/ hard to awaken
· Dizziness and confusion; inability to focus
· Increased heart rate and breathing
     As we looked at the physical symptoms of dehydration, I believe the same symptoms occur from spiritual dehydration.
· Anxious, stressed, impatient
· Build up of the toxins in our lives
· Inability to cry tears; our heart is hardening
· Stressed appearance
· Exhaustion from life
· Confusion as to direction for life, hard to focus on God, dizziness from busyness
· Increase in tension, decrease in relaxation, no rest in Christ
     In addition, it has been documented that a number of aliments, even “diseases’ can be directly linked to dehydration. Significantly, water can also provide the cure, at times superior to medication. In the book “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” the following health problems were listed as having a direct relation to the lack of water and which can be helped with proper hydration are:

· Headache

· Stress

· Kidney problems

· High Blood Pressure

· Thirst

· Hypertension

· Cholesterol

· Ulcers

· Higher risk of cancer

· Drinking your 8 glasses of water a day decreases the risk of colon cancer 45%, reduces the risk of breast cancer an incredible 79%, and makes one 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

     At different times in my life, I have experience all of the effects of dehydration, both physically and spiritually. Today, I listen to my body and when I have headaches and I am tired, I know I am not drinking enough water. When I am spiritually dehydrated, I know it because I am anxious, tired of life, hard-hearted, and stressed. By learning to pay attention to my body and soul, I know when I need to drink more water or spend more time talking to Jesus and letting Him fill me. There is a healing power of water for our bodies and there is an amazing healing power of Living Water to our soul. It is mind boggling that we are so out of touch with our need for water. We do not have to live with the symptoms and ailments of dehydration because the cure is so simple. Drink more water!! Be filled with the Living Water.

Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.

John 4:10 (The Message)

Are you Dehydrated!

One of the ways we take care of our health and body is to drink water. My body has not always had the privilege of water. It had to work for it because it had to draw it out of all the other things I drank. Literally, I went up to 5 months without drinking straight water and not just once, but as a way of life. I lived on tea and coffee, milk and juice, and mostly pop. When I chose to get healthy, the first and most important thing I had to commit to is learning to drink water.
Here are some facts about water:
· 50-80% of our body weight is water
· 70% of our muscles are water
· 75% of our brain is water
· We lose 2 cups of water a day due to breathing, another 2 cups when we sweat and still a few more when we visit the ladies room.
· Water plays a very important role in keeping our body cool and comfortable
· The only thing our body craves more than water is oxygen and by the way, you get oxygen from water.
· Water is necessary to eliminate toxins from the body as waste products, to lubricate the joints preventing damage from arthritis, and to re-hydrate the muscle tissue.
· Thirst and hunger can be confused. Often when a person feels hungry, their body needs water! It is thirst, not the desire for food that causes the “need to eat” sensation.

We can begin to see that we must drink water in order to maintain good health. Yet, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Dehydration can manifest itself slowly over a long period of time; if you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated! Our body’s need for water is substantial. Much of our anxiety, stress, impatience, drowsiness, confusion and inability to concentrate are due to low grade dehydration. Dehydration leading to a 2% loss of body weight may affect mental ability and performance. A loss of 10% may cause extreme weakness and heatstroke.
I don’t think we are only physically dehydrated. I would like to propose that the large majority of us are spiritually dehydrated. The water we so desperately need is Jesus Christ, the Living Water. I believe that one reason we do not reflect Christ in our lives is because we are spiritually dehydrated from the lack of us drinking in Christ daily. Just like our bodies need water to function properly and to maintain health, we must consume the Living Water, Jesus Christ for our spiritual body to function properly and live in a healthy state.
If we know that our bodies need water so desperately to survive and function, why do we not drink water? Why do we live with a dehydrated body? And why, if our spirit needs the Living Water so desperately to survive and function, why do we drink everything instead of that Living Water? Why do we let our selves live in a state of spiritual dehydration? Maybe it is time we get thirsty!

“they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water”.

Jeremiah 17:13

All About You?

Yesterday we spoke of living between the extremes. We started looking at two extremes. One extreme is not accepting yourself the way God made you. I hear women everyday speak negative about themselves. Usually, they are women you think are adorable and cannot imagine why they would feel negatively about themselves. I actually made a mistake yesterday when I said the other extreme was being a good steward of what God gave us. Being a good steward of our health is the middle ground and we will talk about how to do that over the next several days. However, today we are covering the other extreme which is to be totally wrapped up in our self. It is important to feel good about ourselves and do what we can do to take care of our health and appearance, but when the focus is all about us, we enter a dangerous place. In scripture we see several women who adorn themselves with nice clothes, jewelry, perfume, and nice hair do’s. We do not see anything saying that these things are wrong. It only becomes wrong when they forget about the inside. When all the attention becomes only on external things, we have crossed over to the extreme spot. Another thing that pulls, us to the extreme, is pride. Pride makes us believe that we are superior. As women, it makes us flaunt our stuff. It can make us put down other women and talk about their inferiority in their looks, their appearance, or the way they carry themselves. When we live in this extreme we dress to have men look at us, to whistle at us, flirt with us, or lust after us. We don’t just want to look nice, we want men to want us and women to want to be us. The whole focus is us. There is one more thing that can take us to the extreme of being wrapped up in our self. I learned about this attribute many years ago and the older I get the more I struggle with it, and yet, the more I understand it. In Proverbs 31 we read about an example of the perfect Godly woman. We refer to her as the Proverbs 31 woman. She is described as a woman who smiles at the future. This can mean many things. She has prepared well for the days ahead so she doesn’t stress, she trusts God for His provision and care, but I also think it means that she realizes that she will always be aging, she rests in her stage of life. She realizes that you can be beautiful at any age. However, the women who are all wrapped up in themselves fight hard to keep from growing old. They are always looking for the 'fountain of youth'. You can see it in a forty year old who tries to dress and appear twenty! There is an irony that comes from this extreme. Those who think everyone should love them for all their beauty and specialness, end up being a very ugly person. They appear to have so much confidence but in reality they are very insecure because they always wonder if people love them only because they are beautiful.

Have you ever jumped to this extreme? Our society today sells it to us at every avenue. It is hard to not get pulled in this direction. How much time and attention do you pay to yourself? More time than you give God? More time than you spend being beautiful on the inside? Evaluate your intentions for the attention you give yourself. Are you to stand out? Is it all about you? Or is it about bringing glory to God? How do you feel about growing older? Are you okay with being real? Showing the real you? Or are you too busy trying to be somebody you’re not? Let’s learn to be content and happy in our own skin and to be responsible for the great gift of life and health that God has given us!

Let not yours be the (merely) external adorning with elaborate interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is not anxious or wrought up, but is very precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3: 3-4

Life Is A Balance

I learned about living outside the extremes when I was managing a temporary service while Dwayne was attending seminary. When I started working in the temp business, I interviewed many people every day. I would listen to sob story after sob story on how they needed a job. I was so excited to have a job that I could help people and took it upon myself to help them through this time in their life. I trusted everyone to be telling me the truth. However, I called people every day and listened to all kinds of excuses as to why they couldn’t accept the assignment or they would accept the assignment and not show. I got to the spot where I thought every person was lying to me and I trusted nobody. Soon, I realized that neither spot was a healthy place to be. It was important for me to learn how to live somewhere between these two extremes.
There are many things in life that have extremes which try to pull us their direction but the principal of success is usually learning to live between the extremes. We must learn to balance: obedience and grace, serving and boundaries, work and play, church and family, marriage and friends, confidence and humility, etc.
We are going to talk about one of these extremes for the next several days. It is the extremes of accepting the way God made us and being good stewards of the health that God gave us. It is hard to find the middle with this but either extreme can cause us emotional hurt. So many times we look in the mirror and we only see all the things we call faults. We belittle our self and think we are inferior to others. We find our self saying things like, “my husband would love me more if I could just be prettier!”, “Everyone looks better than I do”, “If God loves me, why did He make me this way?”, “I am getting so old, I wish I could be young again”. I agree it is sometimes challenging to see the wrinkles forming, the natural highlights glowing in the hair, and worse of all the facial hair that wants to take root on your face! However, there are certain unchangeable traits that God chooses to frame the pictures He wants to show with our lives. It has nothing to do with Him loving one person more or a person being more worthy. We each have a picture of God to show this world and He takes special care in choosing the right frame. Do you frame all your pictures with the same frame? I bet you don’t. Sometimes you need a fancy, ornate frame. Sometimes, you need a simple, rustic frame. Sometimes you need a small frame and sometimes a large one. Everything about you was handpicked by the loving hands of God. We have to learn to accept His plan and His love.
Can you do that? What do you see when you look into the mirror? Do you think God made a mistake when he created you? Let me assure you that a perfect God does not make mistakes. Maybe you have heard the old saying, “God doesn’t make any junk!” Ask God to show you how He sees you. Work on seeing the beauty God gave you and yes, He gave you beauty! Accept how God made you and stop talking negatively about His wonderful creation—which is YOU!

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking. Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was

sculpted from nothing into something.

Psalm 139:13-15 (The Message)

Going Home

I am ending the devotions on my trip to Peru by sharing the end of the trip which was trying to leave Peru and enter into the United States. Sounds pretty simple, right? We knew the trip home was going to be interesting when we started our last day. When we all woke up that morning we discovered that Kristen, my daughter in law, was sick. To her disappointment she was not able to go with us to the orphanage; she had to stay close to a restroom and the bed. At the end of the day, we were able to get her to Brittne’s and by the late evening it appeared she would be able to make it home, though it was not going to be fun. Within a few hours of the time we were to leave for the airport, Bryce started getting sick. Now our concern was growing. Our flight out of Peru was at 12:50 a.m. We had the taxi scheduled to pick us up at 10:00 p.m. from Brittne’s apartment. When we reviewed the time frame we determined that we had booked the taxi 30 minutes early and we considered changing the time but because taxis are usually late in Peru, (and known to stand you up) we kept the original time. At 9:30 we were just beginning to get things ready to leave when we heard the taxi honking. We were shocked. He was early! This never happens in Peru. We ran around trying to get the bags together and downstairs. It was very chaotic but in actuality it helped with the goodbye with Brittne. We didn’t have time to cry and drag it on. It had to be quick as if we would see her the next day. Traffic to the airport was unusually heavy for a late week night. We had the same driver as we had when we arrived in Peru and we had not noticed then how bad he drove. Maybe it was the excitement of seeing Brittne! However, with two people sick in the back seat, every increase and decrease of the gas pedal was felt and it was happening about every 3 seconds. When we piled out of the taxi at the airport, Kristen immediately found the plastic sack she had packed and threw up in it. We weren’t even in the airport yet and it was already challenging. Earlier Brittne’s friends had told us that late at night, the check-in lines for Continental were never long. Well, consistent with the evening, the unusual was happening! The lines was extremely long. Dwayne and I stood in line with all the suitcases and carry-on bags while Kristen and Bryce made trips to the restroom and rest area. As you might have guessed my now, the luggage was overweight again. This time, I was prepared and knew what I was going to pull out. I was able to handle it in record time. Except after she took my suitcase, (with the help of Dwayne’s keen eye and memory) I realized I had dropped my glasses in the suitcase, so we had to get the suitcase back for a quick scavenger hunt. When we all had made it through that line we were relieved, though it was short lived. When we met up, Kristen had bought several bottles of water and Sprite to take with her, forgetting you can’t take those through security. We drank what we could quickly and then threw them away. Next, we stood in a long line to pay our taxes in order to get out of the country. Yes, we had to pay $32 each to leave; that was a first. We then made it through the long line for Immigration, only to discover that the two little pieces of paper they gave us coming into the country were no longer in our passports. My tidy husband didn’t think we needed them anymore and didn’t like papers in our passports, so he discarded them. Now we had to go to another line. He found his wadded up in my carry-on bag but he had given mine to the check-in attendant. It wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated, it just cost me another $5 to solve the problem. Next was the security line. This shockingly went very smooth. When we found our gate, the kids were sitting on the floor. This showed me how sick my little germ fanatic daughter in law was because she was sitting on a floor, in the airport, in Peru!!! We then went to get some more drinks to replace what we threw in the trash. There was no place to get drinks other than at the end of the terminal. She actually made it all the way there and back. After paying for those drinks we realized our hay days of amazingly cheap prices were now on the other side of the wall. Within a few minutes our seats were called to board. (It was a good thing the taxi driver came early—God always has things in control.) Then to our surprise we had one more slow line to endure. We had to be frisked down and have our bags searched to enter the plane. Also, the new rule states no drinks from the terminal allowed on the plane. So you know what that meant, the drinks Kristen bought once again went into the trash. When I saw my seat, I discovered I was sitting in the middle seat, between Dwayne and a very large woman who took up part of my seat. I decided the only way to endure this long ride, in such a tight spot, was to sleep the entire trip! About the time I couldn't stand being confined, we landed. Now all we had to do was unload the plane and go through US Immigrations and Customs. This was the only check point we had a slight concern about. I had made Kristen’s plane ticket in the name of ‘Thompson’, however, her passport was still in her maiden name of ‘Mounts’. She had been traveling with her passport and marriage license. We had checked with every agency to approve the acceptance of the license except US Immigration. Though we were told by others it would be fine, it was the only agency we had not directly confirmed. Praise Jesus, there were no issues. After Immigration, we proceeded down an escalator to baggage claims. We were to gather our baggage and clear through customs. When I reached into my purse to get my passport from the pocket I always put it in, it wasn’t there. I looked through everything and could not find it. Only I could lose a passport from walking down one hallway and going down an escalator. I checked with Customs to see if it had been turned in. I went back to Immigration to check there and to make sure the officer gave it back to me. It was not there. I couldn’t believe it. So close to home and I can’t walk across the line to enter my homeland! What was I going to do? After talking to the officer, I was informed that as long as we had our clearance papers from Immigration, which Dwayne had, I did not need my passport to leave. I was so relieved. We did clear through Customs and after standing in 8 lines and flying 7 hours, we were out of our visiting land of Peru and in our homeland of the United States. The trip was complete!
This experience made me very thankful in advance for a future planned trip that I am taking. I have my reservations and one day, I am going to leave this world I have been visiting and I am going to my real home to spend eternity with my God and my Savior, in a place called Heaven. When this day comes, I will not have to stand in lines to enter. I do not have to pay a price, Jesus already paid it. I do not have to be searched to be declared fit to enter, Jesus already took care of that too. I do not need to take any possessions because everything will be provided for me. I do not have to worry about having the right papers. My name is already in the book. I do not have to have a photo ID, God already knows me; He knows the number of hairs on my head! It will be the simplest trip I have ever had. I will breathe my last breath on this earth and breathe my next one in His presence. I am ready. Are you? Do you have your reservations? Is your name written in the book of life?

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life

will get in.

Revelations 21: 1, 27 (The Message)

P.S. I found my passport. It was in the pocket I always put it in. It was stuck behind a card and I didn’t see it the ten times I looked! As Dwayne says, only me!!!! Haha

It Takes Focus

The Sunday we were in Lima, we went to church with Brittne. It was totally a Spanish speaking service. In case you have forgot, let me remind you that I cannot speak Spanish. I can read a few words but I cannot get the words out properly. If you know me, you are thinking to yourself, “She doesn’t get her English words our right!”. Nobody knows that better than me! Lol It was a great looking church. I was glad to see a praise team was going to lead worship. When they started to sing, I immediately became excited. They were singing the same praise songs we sing at Fusion. The words were being projected on two screens. However, it was all in Spanish. That was okay with me, I figured I knew the words well enough that I would just sing along with them in English. Afterall, these are the songs I sing to myself all the time. It would be cool to hear them singing in Spanish while Kristen, Bryce, and I sung in English. Dwayne was at the end of the row sitting on the other side of Brittne, so he wouldn’t be a part of our English trio. However, within seconds we knew there was a problem. With all the Spanish being sung around us we couldn’t remember a word of English. I mean not a word!!! We all just stood there in shock. How could we not remember words to something we knew so well! It became apparent to us that if we wanted to sing praises to the Lord we were going to have to read them and sing them in Spanish. So, for the first time in my life, I sang in Spanish. I will never know for sure but I imagine that God was amused at his daughter’s praises that Sunday morning. As a parent I loved laughing at the adorable things my children did. Maybe I gave Him a little parental laughter!
One of the things that bewilders me about the Christian walk is consistency. How does a Christian live a life of service to the Lord, a life of devotion to His Word, a life of loving others, and a life of glorifying God and then stop doing it? How do we walk away and forget all the things we live for? Who we live for? Singing praises in the Peruvian church that day showed me an answer to that question. We were inundated with our environment. We were more focused on what was going on around us than what we had placed in our heart and mind. The same thing trips us up in life. When we concentrate on all that is going on around us in life, we can so easily start to focus on the world, the trials, and the problems. Very quickly we start forgetting about the words, the lessons, and the testimonies we have stored in our heart and mind. When that happens, we soon stop recognizing and hearing God’s voice and we become complacent. Before long we start hearing and feeding our flesh. Our life is now far from the life we once lived, and our relationship with the Lord becomes passionless.

Where do you find yourself? What are you focusing on? Do you still hear the voice of God or has it become unrecognizable? If you still have passion and zeal in your relationship with Jesus, then stay focused and persistent to keep it. If you have lost it, return to the Lord. He hasn’t quit speaking and He hasn’t quit wanting to have a relationship with you. Change your focus and listen to Him. Remember all He has done for you and surrender yourself into His care.

Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you; take to heart my commands. They’ll help you live a long, long time, a long life lived full and well. Don’t lose your grip on love and loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people. Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3: 1-6 (The Message)

Conquering Fear

One of the fun activities we did in Peru was sand boarding. Sand boarding is similar to snow skiing except you go down on your belly, instead of standing and you ski on sand, instead of snow. Brittne had gone before so I had seen pictures and she had given me all the details. This was the main activity Bryce wanted us to do, so they were going with or without me. I had a conflict going on internally. The side of me that still thinks I am 20 years old thought this would be a great thing to do. The 49 year old woman, who gets forced to look at reality, thought it was scary and crazy. However, as I get older, I have noticed I am developing a desire to conquer my fears. My mind was saying, “Go” and my body was saying “no way”. Then after a few caring comments from my son like, “you’re going?”, “You really think you’re going to do this?”, “This will be fun to watch!” I was determined to not only go sand boarding but to keep up with them! I was going to love it, and never show my fear! We loaded in the sand buggy and the roller coaster ride on sand began. It was great! After several times of catching air and losing our stomachs, we stopped on the top of a cliff of sand. We unloaded out of our machine and each of us was given a board. The instructor waxed the bottom of the board (so we could go faster!) and we lined up. One at a time we laid on our bellies on our board. The instructor helped us get in proper position. At this point, the board is hanging over the edge and you feel like you are teeter tottering. Yes, you are pointing straight down a large incline head (and face) first. At this point, my common sense tries to convince my pride to admit that this is too scary, and to quit and to just be content with watching the young people do it. I am pleased to inform you that my common sense did not win and I allowed the instructor to push my board down the hill. You control your speed by how much you drag your feet. It was so much fun! I was elated that I followed through and didn’t let fear keep me from trying. After all of us had reached the bottom, the buggy would drive down and pick us all up. Then we would go do it all over again on a bigger dune, and a bigger dune, and still a bigger dune! A total of six times I had to deal with my momentary fear! At the end, our reward was sitting on the sand watching the sun set over the desert. Over all, I was very proud of myself and I was so happy that I allowed myself to have such an amazing, fun experience. The icing on the cake was hearing my son admit that I kept up with them and when I compared my newly painted toenails with my daughter’s, she had worn off more polish from her toes, from dragging them in the sand, than I had!!!
Many times as we walk through life, we hit situations that are out of our comfort zone and they simply scare us. If we give into our fear, we get stuck and miss out on great experiences that God has in store for us. If we will learn to push through our fear and experience something new in our lives, we can receive blessings and sometimes pure joy and happiness. To step out and conquer your fear, you have to trust. On the sand dune, I trusted Brittne when she said how much fun it was and I had to trust the instructor when he showed me how to do it and then gave me the final push. In my life, every major spiritual decision came with a level of fear; like going to seminary, moving to Montana, moving to a hurting and recovering church, starting another new church, changing jobs, planning and speaking at retreats, writing devotions on a blog, etc. I have had to trust God to teach me, protect me, and then give me the final push. The results have always been blessings and joy. What is happening in your life that scares you? Is there something that God is calling you to do that makes you feel like you are hanging out over a cliff just waiting to fall? How much do you trust God? When you are looking at a scary situation, will you learn to trust Him to show you the way? Will you trust His push? Or will you let fear keep you out of God's plans?

In times of fear, it is good to read the words of Moses that he spoke to the Israelites after they let their fear keep them from believing the report that the promise land was good...

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, "The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, 'The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.'" Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Deuteronomy 1: 26-32 (The Message)

A New Home

Before we even went to Peru, we knew it was going to be more than a tourist vacation or a visit to see a daughter. We knew it would be an eye opening, mission minded, spiritual growing experience. Seeing the world our daughter serves in and the sacrifices she makes was definitely all of that. However, we knew there was an outing she had planned for us that would be certain to pull at our heartstrings. It is a place where she started volunteering weeks ago and now wanted to share with her family. It was an orphanage in Lima. Just the thought of it conjured up many images. We were expecting the worse. We had seen some extreme poverty ridden areas and we anticipated a dirty, broken down, building with malnourished, unkempt children. We took a taxi to the orphanage. The closer we got, the more rundown the buildings became. We ended up in a community with dirt streets and no signs of prosperity. Brittne led the taxi to a wall with a large, green, solid metal gate. I’m not talking about a gate in a fence; I am talking about a gate that was at least an 8’ x14’ gate. Brittne pushed a buzzer, like a door bell. Soon a little window opened and closed and the door in the gate opened. I know we each took a deep breath preparing for what we thought we would see. We stepped in and our jaws must have dropped to the ground. I remember trying to figure out how I left reality and entered into this make believe world! The sound of children laughing and playing in a pool of water brought me out of my confusion and I started realizing that though this felt like we had just walked into Heaven itself, it was actually the orphanage. We had totally misjudged what we were going to see. What we did see was an amazing, beautiful play area with happy, clean, adorable children. Three modern buildings surrounded the playground with cement sidewalks paving the walkways from building to building, all lined with flower beds. Brittne had told us churches in the states support the orphanage and also send mission teams to help with different projects. God’s people did GREAT! Sometimes we as Christians do not give our best when it comes to helping others. There are times we do just enough to make us feel good about ourselves. I have seen people donate clothes that are torn and stained to the poor. I have seen people give furniture that is old and broken, expecting others to be grateful. A person can have an attitude that their trash should be good enough for the poor. The Christians that have supported this orphanage did not have that kind of attitude; they gave the best to these needy children. These children were in clean, new clothes. Their furniture was solid and in good shape. The teachers were loving and kind. (They even took the children in one by one to brush their teeth after lunch). There was a part of me that wanted to live there. I would feel blessed for the opportunity. I will never forget Roxana coming up to me and taking my hand to play. I will remember Judith who played with me on the grass and would teach me a Spanish word for an item and then I would teach her the English word. I will never forget feeding Liz, the adorable little girl that Brittne wants as her niece. Dwayne and Bryce will not forget the little boys throwing the balls to them just begging for some rough housing. One little boy would love on Dwayne and pat him on the head. These precious children had all been abused and now they live a life with love, security, joy, provision, learning, care, guidance, and healthy interaction. They learn about God and how Jesus loves them. Their eyes are not filled with sadness but with peace. Spending time here with the children and staff will always be considered one of my greatest blessings and a great life changing experience.
The pictures in my mind of Liz will always represent a spiritual picture of me. I once belonged to a father who goes by the name of Satan, Lucifer, and the Devil. He abused me, lied to me, and deceived me. His goal was to destroy me. However, there came a point in my life that I learned about my Heavenly Father who loved me and wanted to care for me, guide me, nurture me, and bless me. I chose to leave my life of sin and enter into my Heavenly Father’s care. Since then, He has surrounded me with His protection and healed my hurts. I abide with Him and it is a beautiful and amazing place to live! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out "Papa! Father!" (Galatians 4:6 The Message)

Never Alone!

There was only one time during our trip that I had a sense of fear and panic from my environment. We purchased a tour of some islands with birds, penguins, and sea lions. Part of the tour cost covered the travel to and from the town where the tour began. The town was about an hour north of where we were so the salesmen of the tour had a great idea. Since we were planning on traveling back to Lima after the tour and we would be traveling five hours north, they would drop us off at the small town on the highway to catch our bus and save us two hours of travel time. Now we would not have to travel an hour back south just to turn around and travel back north through the same town where they could drop us off. This sounded like a great plan to us. So after the tour, the taxi driver drove us to the intersection of the highway back to Lima. The town we had expected was more like a few shacks and something like a truck stop. Since the bus we rode from Lima stopped at least every 30 minutes to pick people up along the highway, we knew this was nothing to panic about. However, since we were planning on purchasing bus tickets at a bus station where we could use a Visa card or an ATM to get out some cash to convert to soles, we now found ourselves with six soles between us and a twenty dollar bill. Tickets from Lima had cost us around 30 soles each and so we knew we were going to cut it close. Now we found our self standing on a highway in South America, with not enough money to catch a bus back to Lima! Not a position I was feeling good about. First, I had a momentary panic. Nobody in the world knew where we were, how could they. I remember my first thought was that if I looked at a map, I could find the spot we were standing. That brought some relief. However, I had a rush of peace come over me when I realized that God knew where we were. He didn't even have to have a map. As long as He knew where we were, He would take care of us and help us figure out what to do. Within minutes the bus came. Brittne started explaining to the ticket master on the bus our predicament and with great amazement Brittne told us that they agreed to let us ride to the next stop where Brittne could convert her dollars to soles and pay for our tickets! She did that and when we were back on the bus heading for Lima, the ticket master came to collect his money. Once again, we were in a predicament. We were 2 soles short. Again, God took care of us because the ticket master told Brittne not to worry about the 2 soles. All was well, and soon we were back at Brittne's apartment in Lima.

This situation happens to us many times through life. Sometimes, we panic that we feel deserted in an unknown place. We feel lost and forgotten about. We can not see any possible way to be delivered through our circumstances. It is at these times we need to remind our self that God knows exactly where we are. He will provide for us in ways we can not see or fathom. We must keep our self from panic and worry by standing firm in trust and faith in God and watch Him work!

Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wing to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute--you're already there waiting!

Psalms 139:7-10 (The Message)

Who Is Leading You?

One thing that Dwayne and I, along with Bryce and Kristen, kept saying over and over during our trip to Peru was, “We couldn’t do this without Brittne.” We could not really communicate with anyone. Though they knew some words, it was not enough to communicate. We could have asked where the bathroom was, or how much something cost, or for water; but we needed so much more. I don’t know how many times we asked Brittne how to say something or what someone said or what she said to someone. We had to have driven her crazy! Without her, we wouldn’t have known where to go and where not to go. We wouldn’t have known what to eat and what not to eat. We wouldn’t have known when we were getting ripped off from taxi drivers or market vendors. We couldn’t have ordered off a menu, at least not very well. We wouldn’t have known about some safety issues, like how you have to disinfect all fruits and vegetables to get rid of all the bacteria. We wouldn’t have known to stay as close as sardines in lines because cutting in line is part of their culture. We would have missed out on some great experiences like sand boarding and the park of fountains. We wouldn’t have had some life changing experiences like staying in a hostel, or attending a Peruvian church, or visiting the orphanage. She directed us through our visit to unknown places. She taught us the dos and don'ts of living there. She taught us through our circumstances. She showed us how to have fun. She communicated for us. She gave us a sense of security.
What Brittne was for us is a great example of what God's Holy Spirit is for us. Though she demonstrated so many of His characteristics to us, He is so much more! Sometimes this world we live in seems so unknown to us. Scripture tells us that we are aliens or visitors in this world. God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us during this journey of life in a land where we do not belong. The Holy Spirit teaches us and directs us. He gives us joy. He communicates on our behalf. He comforts us. He interprets life for us at times. He also gives us gifts and fills us with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We can feel comforted to know that all we have to do to survive in this world is surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will help us in all things if we will just learn to follow! Are you going to figure this life out on our own, which is impossible? Are you going to go down the paths you want? Or are you going to trust Jesus to direct you and grow you by the Holy Spirit through this amazing life? Choose wisely!

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea of our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications to every detail of our life.

Galatians 5:22-25 (The Message)

What Am I Portraying?

The mode of transportation in Peru was a new experience for me. It is mainly taxis and buses. I have ridden in both, but not quite like I did in Peru. I rode in taxis in New York City where yellow taxis line every street. Their fees are determined by a meter. It is a set fee, plus mileage and time all monitored by the meter. In Peru the taxi system is negotiated, one ride at a time. Since I couldn’t even say ‘buenas dias’, we left the negotiating to Brittne who took on the assignment with great passion. She was determined not to let a taxi driver rip us off; not even one Sole' (which equals 32 cents). Many times five of us would load into a small subcompact car almost the size of a Subaru outback station wagon. Dwayne would sit in the front; Bryce and I would sit in the back in the middle. Brittne would sit on the corner of the seat by me and Kristen would crawl on top of Bryce’s lap, keeping her head ducked because it would hit the ceiling. Sometimes we would splurge an extra 5 sole’s and get a second taxi! During our six day adventure, we ended up riding in 34 taxi’s and 2 buses. It was very frustrating to me not to be able to talk to the drivers and find out about their lives and be of some kind of encouragement to them. I even felt rude by not talking to them. However, each driver did tell me one thing about them self. They would have some kind of object by their mirror or on their dash showing where they put their faith, and trust me, if I drove like they did, I would be putting my faith in something other than me too. The problem was that the vast majority was trusting in something that couldn’t help them. Three taxi drivers had a little shoe on their dash boards. They were shoes of their children to bring them good luck. Twenty-nine drivers had a picture of a Saint or a rosary as a symbol of protection. One driver had nothing. It was very sad to see so many putting their trust in luck and mere humans, or nothing at all. However, three drivers had Bibles. These three were believers in Jesus Christ and was putting their trust in His Word. Besides their Bibles, they would have Christian music on the radio like Hillsong singing in Spanish. It was great! Just think of how many people would get in the Taxi each day and hear songs of praise to the One True God.

It made me wonder about the people that cross my path every day. The ones I don’t speak too but who watch me as I go about my activity. What do I show them about who I am putting my trust in? Do they see me rejoicing in the Lord? Or do they see me stressing over life? Do they see me upset with another person? Or do they see me as a person of love, compassion, and joy? When someone crosses my path, I want to portray the One I claim to serve! As I look back over my encounter with my 36 drivers, I wish I would have learned to say, “God Bless You” in Spanish. Each time I got out of the cab or walked off the bus, instead of butchering ‘buenas dias’, I should have said ‘dios te bendiga’. I let 36 opportunities go by to show who I trust in. I pray I become more aware of what I am portraying to those who travel with me through my daily journey through life.

You are the light of the world....Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

Matthew 5 : 14a, 16 (Amplified)

(also, I had to include the Message because I love the wording!)

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept....Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14a, 16